Points of Authority
by WhiteFangofWar
Summary: Byakuya encounters a powerful Arrancar with an ancient grudge against his family.  OC, rated for cursing.  Review if you read please.


Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

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**Points of Authority**

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_Palace of Las Noches, Hueco Mundo_

"Face it", the blue-haired Shinigami boy spoke up for the first time in minutes. "We're lost, captain."

Both the response's words and tone of voice were predictable as well, when coming from this particular captain. "We're not lost. We need only follow the high levels of _reiatsu_ to eventually come upon what we seek. There's no need for you to whine, Yamada."

Which of course, dashed his notions of asking the captain to carry the body he'd taken as a heavy cargo for a while. Granted, Miss Rukia Kuchiki was not terribly heavy or massive; she was in fact a short and lightweight figure that matched her noble upbringing, but having to move her unconscious form through seemingly endless white marble corridors searching for a way out of the palace where they'd found her was beginning to strain on his poor back muscles.

Her brother the captain wouldn't have such a problem, Hanataro Yamada acknowledged glumly, trying not to fall over from the weight. With his great strength, the captain could probably carry Miss Rukia at a running clip and leave the blue-haired healer in the dust, to wander the empty halls of Las Noches alone, forever until he died. Asking such a thing of the captain, he was sure, would not only not result in the affirmative response, but lower captain Byakuya's perception of him far past dirt level. If it wasn't there already.

That was his lot in life, he supposed as they wound their way up yet another set of perfectly white tile stairs and he strove to maintain a pace faster than walking. Always the most likely target of bullies, and now the 6th squad captain's work dog. Not only Byakuya Kuchiki's noble lineage, but his considerable strength and skill elevated him far above most of Soul Society, and around two such high nobles he could not help but feel even more inadequate than usual.

He felt Rukia's small waist beginning to slip and dig into his shoulder, and silently that prayed the rest of her rump would not slide down onto him and give her brother _entirely_ the wrong impression of what he was doing with her body. Byakuya Kuchiki both looked _and_ acted like the overprotective type, and Hanataro knew in his bones that the captain could end his servant's life with a single stroke of the blade if it came down to that. _Why I volunteered for this job, I will_ never _know._

Thankfully, this time it wasn't long until the captain skidded to a halt, permitting him a well-deserved rest period. Looking around his cargo, he realized that the path had split into two. One narrow staircase stretched further up as far as he could see, and the other...

The other was a tall stone door. Uncommon in Las Noches, as far as he could figure from what he'd seen thus far. Stranger still was the young man who leaned against the door, who looked like he had just been woken up by two wayward Shinigami suddenly bursting into the large, round room.

An Arrancar, Hanataro recognized right away upon seeing the boy's bone mask. Not surprising, given that this vast warren of corridors was reportedly their home. Each one that they'd seen so far seemed to bear some lingering remnant of the bone mask which they'd worn as Hollows, and this one's face still held the entirety of the mask's forehead skull portion, dividing his face in two from the point of his nose all the way up along the back of his head to the base of the skull, so that his hair was divided into two identical portions of black and blond along the left and right sides. Beyond that, the groggy-seeming youth wore the same white jacket and pants garb as the rest of his brethren in the palace of Las Noches.

"Yo", the Arrancar said, pushing off the door and unfolding his arms. "You guys look lost. You're trying to get back to the exit, am I right?"

"Out of the way, _Hollow_", the captain demanded without courtesy. "We have no business with you."

"Now that's just plain rude", he said as he stretched both arms out. "Typical. But hey, since you're in such a rush, I'll cut you a break."

He pointed, one gloved hand indicating the long staircase off to his left. "This one goes to the exit, but it's a long way. You guys look pretty buff, but I figure it would take you an hour or so to make it through."

Hanataro groaned. Another hour of carrying miss Rukia while jogging would leave his legs and arms ready to die and fall off.

Moving the other arm back, the Arrancar indicated the stone door, intricate carvings decorating its surface. "Now, _this_ way will take you out of here in no time. Sorry to say, Zommari-sama asked me to guard it. Who am I to say no, am I right? This door only unlocks with my death. Looks to me like you've got a choice to make."

"No choice at all", Byakuya said before his subordinate could say anything, one hand already to his sheath. Up close, the captain was nearly a full head taller than the Arrancar. "If we must cut you down to leave here, then we shall."

"Whoa now", his prey protested, both arms up. "I never said that was the only way. Just take the stairs, am I right? I'm really not in the mood for fighting right now."

The captain ignored him, of course. Seeing how quickly this would end in a bloody mess, Hanataro felt the strange urge to say something. _Try to save an Arrancar? The enemy? I really _am_ tired. _"H-hey. There's no need for it. I'm fine, captain. I can run the long route, no problem. You're still weak from fighting that Espada, remember?"

No response, or even an indication the captain had heard him. As per usual, the loss and subsequent healing of two separate limbs didn't even faze the elder Kuchiki, and his first strike lashed out into the Arrancar's blocking arm, leaving behind a rip in the sleeve but no other damage. The Arrancar did not seem interested in counterattacking, only in lumberingly blocking each subsequent slice with similar results.

"C-captain!", Hanataro tried again, gently setting Rukia down on the floor. "Captain Kuchiki!"

Surprisingly, the Arrancar froze at those words, and was nearly decapitated for his efforts, only barely getting one arm up in time to block. "Hey now. Did you just say... _Kuchiki_?"

Already, Hanataro was regretting his words. A new look had overcome the Arrancar's divided face, and Byakuya had turned on him as well. "This pup is young and ignorant, Hollow. He forgets how to address his superiors. He should have said 'Captain Byakuya Kuchiki of the 6th Court Guard Squad'."

"Kuchiki", his prey murmured strangely, eyes wide and trembling. "Kuchiki. A Kuchiki. Ya don't say... Well, never mind then. I've had a change of heart. Let's fight, Kuchiki-kun. Not every day I get to kill one of your kind, am I right?"

"Kill?", the captain asked in obvious disdain after falling back to a safe distance. "You won't even touch me, Hollow."

Watching from afar as the Arrancar tore both of his sleeves off his coat with his hands, Hanataro cringed at what his big mouth had started. At last, they could both see the strange symmetrical hole that was shared by all Hollows regardless of type or size, this particular one boring straight through the man's right palm, though his right hand still flexed and pivoted perfectly like there wasn't a gaping hole going through it. More important however, were the large metallic-looking bracers that covered both his hands from the wrist down past the gloved fingertips, which now gripped the connecting handles to the bracers tightly. That's_ how he was able to block the captain's Zanpaktou with just his arms_, he noted with trepidation.

"Name's Lysander", the Arrancar said as he flexed both arms carefully, cracking his knuckles loud, suddenly all business towards the captain. "Arrancar Number One-Zero-Eight, Lysander Crescens. Sometimes known as 'The Iron Wall'."

Still no measurable reaction from the captain, but after his next chain of strikes Hanataro understood the nickname. Every hit slammed into one of the two metal bracers no matter how fast Byakuya struck, inflicting no damage and prompting the captain to back off before his prey could counterattack. A series of cuts directed low fared no better, repelled by a pair of oversized greaves worn on the Arrancar's legs with equal dexterity.

"Good defence", the captain finally observed, seeing how the Hollow calling himself Lysander still did not move from his spot in front of the door. "But all you do is waste my time. One slip. The slightest miscalculation, and _Senbon Zakura_ will find you."

"Then I'd best not miscalculate", Lysander replied in equal calm, arms and legs ready to act as his shields against the next assault. His head, however, nodded to Hanataro. "Hey. You there. I'd move that short girl back a bit more if I were you, so that we don't accidentally hit her. She's a Kuchiki as well, am I right?"

He didn't answer, but took great care to move Miss Rukia further away, almost back to the hall they'd emerged from. "Fine", Lynsander snorted. "Don't answer. I know the truth anyway, Kuchiki-kun."

"Enough games", his opponent demanded in frank annoyance, this time exercising the same impossibly quick flash steps that had left Hanataro flabbergasted the last time he'd seen them. The captain's blade came in from every possible angle within half-breaths of each other, each time only barely guarded against by a leg or arm. Left arm blocking a rising cut. Right leg moving to parry a stab so fast there seemed to be two of the captain. Three now, a third Byakuya clone slashing across into Lysander's right arm shield, to make room for a fourth flying down from the darkened ceiling to strike the head...

Left leg rising, boosting up past a moving head, to suspend itself against the fourth. All four vanished and the Arrancar landed neatly on the right foot. "Better. But your battle plan is fundamentally flawed, assuming you can block every hit until I become exhausted, then launch your own attack. Though I'm certain it won't require that much time, I could continue fighting at this pace for weeks without becoming tired if necessary, Hollow."

Lysander did not break rank, did not blanch at the captain's dissection of what Hanataro considered to be a pretty damned good strategy, if a pretty boring one. If the two of them kept at this for weeks, he would fall asleep first, be unable to protect Miss Rukia. To say nothing of how the battle raging above them might go with their mightiest Shinigami Captain stuck down here, wasting his time picking away at the proverbial 'Iron Wall' for days.

Many of the Espada yet lived, Hanataro knew. He'd been observant. He hadn't missed hearing the huge brown-skinned bald one from before announce himself as the _Septima_ Espada before Byakuya had slain him.

If their intel was correct, that meant there were six other Espada-ranked Arrancars in existence even more lethal than Zommari Leroux. _Six_, though exactly what weapon or ability could possibly be deadlier than being able to control_ fifty_ people or objects at once Hanataro could not even imagine. He shuddered at the possibilities, though. _Just what kind of abominations has that _bastard_ Aizen created here?_

"You mistake my intentions for stalling", the Arrancar of the present replied, lacking any trace of the teenager they'd first encountered, his large forehead of bone prominent as he dodged and ducked around every cut without a single hit. He couldn't be one of those six elite Espada... could he? "The typical arrogance of a Kuchiki. I merely intended to feel you out, and get accustomed to how fast your _Shunpo_ is before starting any attack of my own." He smiled eerily, retraining his arms for the next strike. "Seeing how good _you _are, Kuchiki-kun, waiting any longer to start that attack... would be a huge mistake on my part. Somehow, I get the feeling you'll find a way through my four 'walls' as they are now. Far wiser to reinforce them, am I right?"

Both Shingami saw it coming, but one did not intervene and the other dared not ask why. One hand moved up to touch the left bracer, then the left hand to touch the right, infusing them with a new energy that shook the entire room. "Resurrecion... _PROTECT!_", Lysander bellowed, as dead-serious as the stoic captain he fought against now. "_Tapari Duro!_"

When the flare of light had faded, Hanataro balked anew. The same pale metal of the hand bracers and leg greaves had grown out, somehow expanded to engulf the Arrancar's entire arms and legs, nearly becoming a complete suit of armour save for a gap of exposed flesh at his chest and his head. More striking however, were the four green gems glittering in each limb, with the one in the right arm actually filling Lysander's 'Hollow Hole', now the largest gem of the four.

"Now I am prepared", he announced from behind a new gunmetal chin-guard, slamming the huge right arm into the floor without any further preamble, the gem contained within flaring up with emerald green light. "Ready, Kuchiki-kun?"

The tremor nearly knocked Hanataro off his feet, the prelude to a zigzag of green that sped across the ground towards its true target- the captain. Unfazed, he flickered out of the way with the same speed as before, this time angling to land a hit on the only part of the Arrancar not protected by the metal. The left arm came around to block it, flared-

And Byakuya Kuchiki was suddenly airborne, carried off by the huge surge of power, his haori flapping as he righted himself in midair without any real damage. "Tapari Duro's released form", Lysander noted with rancour, tapping each of his four gems in turn, "grants each of my limbs its own personal 'repulsor field' of_ reiatsu_. Attack as much as you wish- the four walls grant me immunity to all forms of attack. Just _one _is enough to guard against your own Zanpaktou's edge. Oh, and before you try it and make a fool of yourself, they repel _Kido_ spells as well. Pretty good, am I right?"

Landing atop the crack in the floor from before, the captain did not balk, only annoyed by the Arrancar's chatter. "You're _not_ right, Hollow. You boast before seeing my own abilities in person. Like your Lord Zommari, you presume too much in thinking yourself even close to my level. Thousand Cherry Blossoms- _SHATTER_! _Senbon Zakura!_"

Groaning, Hanataro ducked away, well aware of what was coming next. The captain's release was known for being unstoppable even by the standards of other _Shikai. _Just as he'd witnessed before, the blade of the weapon would separate into a thousand flying fragments, pink like flower petals but no less deadly for it, leaving only the hilt behind to control the mighty force. A thousand tiny blades would obey the will of the hilt's wielder, every single one of them as deadly as the original when it came to piercing flesh. It was this attack, he recalled with a shiver of fright, which had crippled Zommari Leroux, not quite finishing him off but leaving him open to the final blow.

Wasting no time, the petals flowed forth past the captain, blocking out all sight of Lysander in no time, burying him in a cloud of pink death before Hanataro could see if the green gems were flaring up in response or not.

"My God", he exclaimed unwillingly, still taken aback as ever by the sight even when it wasn't turned on him. "First that crazy Espada and now this. You're _amazing_, captain! Anyone ever tell you that?"

The captain paused and did not smile back, only giving the healer a few words in return. "Not often. I've no need for empty praise."

"Nor do you deserve it." Hanataro jumped in fright as the third voice came back, disturbingly loud and firm and heedless of the cloud of pink death he was still engulfed in. He chuckled. "You've sealed your fate, Kuchiki-kun."

_What? How could he-_

But there was no time to dwell on it. No sooner did they hear the Arrancar's words than the pink petals began to return back to their master... at full velocity! Understanding the trick just in time, the captain leaped and flash -stepped and darted around the room for his very life, his lifelong experience with the attack perhaps being the one thing that allowed him to dodge each flying blade by inches, recalling the cloud back into its original form the moment he had enough room to be able to.

Not fast enough, to Hanataro's shock- the sword had not yet reformed itself when the Arrancar's very first attack of the battle pushed past the empty hilt to bury the left arm in the captain's gut, driven further by his high forward momentum. _No! Captain!_

Decision time. Remain here and protect Miss Rukia, or try and distract the Arrancar so that the captain could free himself from what looked like a very painful punch? The captain would never forgive him for abandoning his adopted sister, but might that threat become null and void if the captain died? Thankfully, he was spared the decision once the swirling flower petals had faded- Byakuya Kuchiki had not died, only been injured. Better, he had pried himself loose of the fist that held him before its gem could flare up. Hanataro could not estimate what the likely result would be if the repulsor field had activated while the corresponding fist was still buried inside of the captain's guts, but knew the results could not possibly be good.

His superior fell back, the bleeding hole still visible through the new gap in his haori where the metal knuckles had struck him. He still stood, his Zanpaktou at the ready, but not even a fighter of his arrogance and power could claim the blow had not hurt him deeply.

On the other side, his foe chuckled as if sharing a good joke with friends. "You understand it now, don't you? Tapari Duro doesn't just deflect attacks. It _reflects _them, back to sender. Each of my fields took two-hundred and fifty blades, sharing the load between them before sending them all back at you! Granted, I _did_ have to use all four of my walls together, overlapping, and taxed to their very limit... but the results were worth it, am I right?"

"What _are_ you?", Hanataro felt his own fear forcing words into his mouth again. "An Espada? Like Zommari?"

Lysander chuckled, a great deal more friendly with him than the captain for some reason. He knocked on his forehead bone with the right bracer. "Close. Very close. You might have been able to tell by my number. One hundred and eight. Are you by chance familiar with the Privaron Espada, my friend? No? Well, let's just say we're the next best thing to an actual Espada. Only half the calories and all that, am I right?"

"Enough", the captain's dour voice boomed through the dust the fight had released into the air. "You talk too much, Hollow."

"That's a laugh, coming from a _Kuchiki_", came the scornful reply, all four shields now flaring back up to their maximum strength. He clenched the right palm tight. "This time I'll use my good hand, Kuchiki-kun. See if you can survive getting hit by _that_."

But Hanataro could take no more. If the captain chewed him out for this later, made him cook and clean for years afterwards he'd consider it a blessing to have Byakuya still alive to do that. Interposing himself between the two, he spread his arms wide and began to babble. "Wait! Please! Before you continue, I want to know why it is you seem to hate the Kuchiki family so much. You seemed so easygoing- for an Arrancar anyway- before then. What's your problem with them anyway?"

"Yamada", Byakuya's voice came in warning against the boy's nervous rant, though it sounded alarmingly subdued. "Don't invite this Hollow trash to shoot his mouth off any more than he already has."

Arrancar 108, on the other hand, seemed very pleased with the request. Sparing a glance at Rukia then at her brother, he seemed utterly certain that no surprise attack by the captain would catch him off guard. The idea that Hanataro might hurt him in this state was laughable.

"Not merely the Kuchikis", he admitted, relaxing his poise enough to tell a story without leaving himself wide open. "All four of the noble families of the Soul Society are my sworn enemies. My life's work, my passion, my reason for existing and serving Zommari-sama and Aizen-sama above him, all stem from that single desire."

"Zommari talked before his death", Hanataro remembered, slowly getting over the fear that Lysander might simply destroy him with a well-placed haymaker punch. Up close however, their similarity did much to defuse his jitters. "Said he found us Shinigami hypocritical. Is that how you feel?"

"Nope!", Lysander admitted, returning to the serious expression he'd faced Byakuya with as he spoke of the past. "Before Aizen-sama appeared and gifted so many of us with Shinigami powers, cracking our masks, I was of the Menos-class _Adjuchas_."

"But you're so small!", the blue-haired healer pointed out. "I would have figured you for a Vasto Lorde".

He smiled sheepishly at the compliment, almost friendly enough to make Hanataro relax around him. "Don't be fooled. Our size as Arrancars has little to do with our previous class, only our power and level of intellect. In any case, I was one of many Adjuchas Menos who formed the enclave of Mt. Fuji. We feasted on humans and hid away when the local Shinigami were around, and we did not possess even the concept of leadership. We were all equals, all Adjuchas."

Hanataro fought to suppress a gasp. The only place he'd ever heard of the battle of Mt. Fuji before was in the history textbooks in Soul Society. It was best known as a disaster for their side, a lava-filled trap where so many Shinigami had fallen more than a century ago. The young Arrancar he stood before now was more than two hundred years old. "The Soul Society took note, and dispatched one of the 13 court guard squads to destroy the hideout."

"That's right", Lysander acknowledged, feeling the bone of his forehead mask in reminiscence. "The 10th Squad. But they underestimated us. Their command level did not believe we_ Adjuchas_ could coordinate well, nor have large numbers outside of Hueco Mundo. They were wrong on both counts- we stalked them, divided them up with well-placed attacks, ambushed them one by one in the underground passages of the volcano until only their captain remained."

"It was our turn to make an incorrect assumption. We approached the captain and his last few men slowly and cautiously, certain that he would be the most powerful and the most difficult to take down. Yet, as we drew closer, all we saw was a weak man screaming orders to his befuddled subordinates. When we took him, we took nothing. He was nothing, scarcely strong enough to be a member of the 13 squads in the first place.

"His name was Rayou Kuchiki. A cowardly, fat rich fool who sacrificed his men wholesale to escape death.

"Until then, I had lacked the drive many of my brethren had. We just ate and ate with no real purpose beyond that, devouring human souls until a Shinigami came to put us out of our misery. Being a Hollow was, well, a 'hollow' experience, am I right? But witnessing captain Kuchiki's actions stirred something inside me that day. Why did the other Shinigami obey him without question? What made him so special? I left Mt. Fuji to observe closer why it was that the Kuchiki clan possessed the means to place their members in positions of power, regardless of their true worth as Shinigami. In fact I learned there were_ four_ such noble families who held that unfair privilege in Soul Society, each of them containing their fair share of fools.

"But the thing which truly burned me, my friend, was the way the rest of you treated them, or were expected to treat them. Regardless of who was stronger or more skilled, regardless of whether they acted in a way that deserved it... they were to be treated as walking Gods in your culture. With a few exceptions, their word was law. Because he was of the Kuchiki family, Rayou was given a captain's rank by his uncle, Mamuroshi, merely because he requested it. Every single Kuchiki I ever saw was indoctrinated into this pride, believing themselves to be somehow_ above_ all others they beheld. The wretch over in the corner is, in fact, a prime example of their supreme arrogance.

"My conclusion? Soul Society's entire system is archaic and unfair. It was modelled after the beliefs of the spirits of the last millenium, who were first born during the stretch of years called 'the age of Feudalism' in the World of the Living. Since then, the governing systems in the World of the Living have changed and grown, evolved so as to better represent its people as a whole, not merely particular families selected by some obsolete tradition. I seek its destruction with passion, not merely because the Shinigami kill us Hollows with abandon, but to bring about a system without snobbish, noble families such as the Kuchikis. All are equal in death! _AM. I. RIGHT?"_

Lysander finished his diatribe with a crazed look on his face, and Hanataro sighed. "A sad story... but it sounds like you don't really understand the Soul Society at all. We don't look up to the noble families just because we're taught to."

The Arrancar scoffed, batting him aside with a single swipe into a wall. "You can tell me the real reason later. Right now, I have a Kuchiki in need of a lesson in humility, and another in need of the death that she so deserves Don't think that I didn't feel you healing his wounds in secret while I was talking. Not that it makes one bit of difference, am I right?"

"But it does", the captain's voice returned, hoarse but invigorated, his Zanpaktou restored to full strength. "Now as head of the Kuchiki family, I must fight to defend our honour."

"Come then", Lysander demanded, all four gems flaring back up to full power. "Prove that you deserve the cushy life being the head of the Kuchiki gave you. Or lose, knowing that the Kuchiki girl will be next one to die at my hand!"

In the face of mounting fear, against the building tension in both sides' spiritual pressure, Hanataro could not help but laugh out loud, nearly falling over from the wall he'd been knocked into... For now he knew for certain, beyond all possible doubt, that the Arrancar named Lysander Crescens was about to die. "You really shouldn't have done that. The captain's _really_ protective of-"

He didn't bother to finish saying_ Miss_ _Rukia_. He figured Lysander got the message with the way Byakuya's blade lashed out through a cloud of smoke with twice the strength, driving one arm shield back a ways before changing targets to the legs. Fancy footwork kept both shields from being overloaded, but that was only the diversion for a jumping strike between the arm shields, leaving a smoking gash in the forehead portion before withdrawing.

"YOU", the Arrancar whispered in a rage. "You broke my guard! No one's ever done that!"

"Rayou was a fool", his foe acknowledged as if they were discussing the colour of a new carpet. "But he was an exception that Ginrei was quick to purge from us afterwards, before we lost further prestige due to Mamuroshi's rampant nepotism. Cushy lifestyle? We Kuchiki train more often than we sleep."

"Train with who?", Lysander howled as he changed his stance almost entirely to attacking, massive blocks of field energy sailing past their target by the narrowest of margins. "Train with the legendary Shinigami, the teachers of advanced techniques who wouldn't spare you a second glance had you not been a Kuchiki?" He cackled, finally landing a return blow that left a trench of destroyed marble where the captain fell.

"You never _truly _earned your great power or your skills, Kuchiki. Only snivelled under the skirts of greater warriors than you, who had no choice but to tolerate you because of your noble lineage and teach you their secret arts, am I right? Even that marvellous Zanpaktou in your hand, the_ Senbon Zakura_, was granted to you regardless of your own merits." Suddenly shifting the alignment of his four barriers, he caught the other man off guard, not hurting him but sending the aforementioned Zanpaktou sailing off towards the sealed door, too far away to reach easily while under heavy attack. "There. Now you will only fight with what you rightfully earned."

Flush with pride at illustrating his point so well, he did not expect a punch straight to his face, nor one strong enough to knock him back a fair ways, scarring his jaw right through the metal. Instead of dashing over to grab his weapon as Lysander had predicted, the captain continued with the unarmed assault, both arms and legs becoming just as fluid as his foe's. A good thing, since he did not possess the same protective fields as Lysander and had to rely totally on skill to prevent his hands from being burned away by the emerald energy.

Somehow he always stayed ahead, light as a feather, landing tiny strikes here and there that slowly and surely added up to further frustration for the Arrancar. Win or lose, Hanataro Yamada knew he would remember the sight until the day he fell. Arrancar 108, the self-proclaimed master of absolute defence, now facing a more mobile yet equally powerful guard, reduced over the course of minutes to swiping at his enemy in futility.

"Earned?", the captain prodded, having caught on to how to provoke Lysander into yet another ill-judged strike which he could punish with an elbow to the face. "When is power _earned_, Hollow? Did you do something in your former life of evil to earn the strength you hold as an _Adjuchas_? The strength which then caught the traitor Sosuke Aizen's eye, and had him crack your mask with the Hogyoku?" A strong kick to the forehead bone punctuated the statement, and Lysander's combinations became more frenzied still. "No being can be held guilty for the natural abilities that they are given by life, Hollow."

Several hopeful moments later, a metal bracer swung up and caught the captain in his throat. "Then your sin is HUBRIS!", the crazed Arrancar spat into his face, for once sounding more like his less-evolved bretheren in the World of the Living than a human. "The way you treat everyone ELSE! REPENT!" Punctuating his own words in turn, he brought the captain's entire body down onto the floor with one arm, repeating the body slam over and over until he'd left behind another crater and a fair amount of fresh blood. The captain fought back as if it hadn't even happened, a left kick the distraction for a quick jab gouging one eye before rolling aside to grab Senbon Zakura's hilt once again.

"And what right has a _Hollow_ to judge us?", he asked, standing ready to ward off any attack the enraged Arrancar tried. "We don't gain power by _eating_ weaker Shinigami in Soul Society, nor even among the World of the Living. You put on a good show, Lysander Crescens. You speak intelligently and eloquently of your motivations, like a human or Shinigami. But in the end, it's only a rabid animal trying to imitate what it can never truly be."

"Shut UP!", the Hollow screamed, sending forth two more green fissures with his legs only to have them easily dodged. "Damn you! I will never be outsmarted by a KUCHIKI!"

"Do not speak of my family. You can't even be compared on the same level as any Kuchiki. Even the pup, Hanataro Yamada, is more intelligent than you, Hollow. Even _he_ understands the real reason why it is that the four noble families are respected, while you remain oblivious."

A backhanded comment if ever there was one, but they were so rare coming from Byakuya that Hanataro smiled all the same. _Thanks... captain._

Bit by bit, he saw the signs as the fight wore on and on. The occasional stumble, the way his punches did not seem to have the same impact they had once had on the Captain. Gradually the Arrancar's strength was beginning to ebb, and if Hanataro could figure that out, he knew the other two could as well.

Lysander, at least, recognized it. "Fine", he seethed once they'd drawn apart again. "That's the way this is gonna be? _Fine. _I'll just have to apologize to Zommari-sama later."

Cautious of a surprise attack by the captain, he reached down. Two of the four remaining fields flickered, disappearing. Touching the his left bracer, he caused that once to vanish as well, leaving him with one field. "It'll be worth it to be rid of you and your hypocrisy, am I right?"

Impassive, the captain watched and waited, for the youthful Arrancar didn't seem one much for bluffing. Touching the final gem, the field did not dissipate like the rest. Instead, it expanded, the circle of green filling the room until it was large enough to cover its wielder by itself. Cringing, Hanataro grabbed Miss Rukia and ducked away from stray bolts of static, suppressing a gasp when he saw one reach out and disintegrate a pillar with its touch.

"Magnified to four times max capacity", Lysander cackled, the single field eating away at the walls and threatening to bring the entire room down around them. "Can't do them all at once, but a lot more flexibility. See if you can handle THIS, Kuchiki!"

He lunged, and for a moment the captain seemed puzzled. With the field so big, his Zanpaktou would impact upon it long before getting within striking range. If the Arrancar was correct and the right hand's repulsor field was now up to four times the strength, even Senbon Zakura's edge might lose that fight. Sliding away instead, he did nothing to stop the walls behind him from being ripped apart, pristine white now scarred black by the emerald destruction trying to catch him.

"Come back, Kuchiki!", his opponent spat as more and more of the room was destroyed. "Face me like a man, or is that too much to ask from a noble?"

No response from the captain but the continuous flash-stepping sparing him from death. Hanataro ran, ducking back into the entrance to the room before he felt it safe to stop and prop Miss Rukia against a wall. Nowhere else was safe- even as he watched, a bolt collapsed the stairs they might have taken to reach so-called 'long route'. A missed swing to the left of that broke down the entire wall, revealing a separate chamber behind the dust cloud. When he was a blink too slow to pull the right arm back into a guard position, the captain pounced.

To Hanataro's disappointment, it was too far away and clouded to see. Byakuya simply flew back, his back slamming into another wall, though he did not cry out. "Captain! Are you okay?"

To his relief, the captain stood up again as though nothing had happened. He was about to ask something else when a storm of green, more brilliant and deadly-seeming than ever, blew all the dust away.

"They operate off _reiatsu_, don't they?", the captain said suddenly, as if continuing a conversion. "You channel yours to activate your four walls, but in truth, anyone with strong _reiatsu_ can dial them up or down by touching them and concentrating."

Hanataro stared. Lysander's four repulsor fields were all active again. All three of the others which the captain must have turned back on were cutting into the magnified right arm's field, resulting in the terrible quaking they'd been experiencing, releasing more and more bolts as they strained against one another... "You cannot turn all four of them up to full at once", Byakuya observed. "That is what you said, is it not? Because when they touch, those four repulsor fields push back against each other, the feedback eventually overloading the power conduit. But you're not some electrical machine from the world of the living, Hollow. In this case, the power conduit... is YOU."

And Lysander howled new-found agony to the ceiling. The fields had become more bolts than solid energy now, gradually eating back into unprotected legs and arms as they strained against one another like broken gears.

"Goodbye, Lysander Crescens", the captain finished, emotionless as ever even in victory. "May your next life be a less foolish existence."

The Arrancar screamed in his final moments, somehow able to take a few steps towards the three of them, trying to land one last punch. "ARGH... die... Kuchiki... all of you... will... DIE!"

Twenty paces away, he _blew_. The explosion left the room utterly wrecked, but the captain wasted little time soaring over to where the door used to be, not even bothering to search the debris for signs- or far more likely _pieces_- of the enemy. Yamada wished to be more methodical, but it wasn't long before the captain called him over to the door. It had slid itself open shortly after the explosion, opening into a clean white hallway devoid of the destruction which had occurred just beyond it.

"Come, Yamada", the captain ordered. "That Arrancar slowed us down much more than I wanted."

Nodding, he made his way across the cracked flooring, doubly careful not to drop Miss Rukia. He could feel it too- the huge surges in _reiatsu_ coming from far above them. One or more of the Espada beyond Zommari was cutting loose up ahead. More than likely cutting loose on one of their allies who had come with them.

Yet when he did see a piece of the Arrancar lying wedged in one of the cracks- a splintered bone mask fragment- he stopped to behold it. "He didn't seem so bad", he muttered to himself. He bowed. "At least until he knew you were a Kuchiki. My mistake, I'm sorry captain."

To his surprise, Byakuya had not only heard him, but replied with something other than a stern reprimand. "Arrancars are merely advanced Hollows, Yamada. No matter how they pretend to be closer to human or Shinigami with their behaviour, they are the same animals underneath. You've seen it twice now, both times when they were about to be killed. That is when their true colours are revealed."

"I guess so."

"The greater insult was that this one thought himself some kind of political maverick", the captain continued on. "Sosuke Aizen is no great agent of change in the social order of Soul Society, contrary to Zommari or Lysander's delusions. He is a traitor, nothing more." The Zanpaktou slammed home, returned its sheath, its grisly work done for the moment. "And the traitor shall fall, along with the rest of his creations. I swear it on the name of the Kuchiki."

Hanataro looked down at the splinter again. Were they truly delusions, all of them? "Captain?"

His features and voice did not soften at all, but the captain no longer seemed quite as impatient to get going. "There was only one thing he was right about. Most of our people won't even notice because it happens so slowly, but Head Captain Yamamoto has. Soul Society _does_ change, Yamada. It reflects the values of the positive souls which are sent to it. But one thing will never change- we champion the strong, attempt make them role models of ideal, proper behaviour... whether they wish to be, or not."

He breathed out, and stealthily pocketed the splinter. Was that bitterness he heard? Was the captain actually trapped in his role? "Don't worry, captain. No matter what happens, we'll always uphold the core principles you taught us. That''s_ my_ oath."

That was what would happen, Hanataro understood at last. It was why it was so important to teach new Shinigami the value of humility early on. Over a thousand years, he would witness his home change. It would begin to reflect the present state of the human world as more souls came in, and the older ones finally departed. Towers of glass and metal and lights replacing the ramshackle palaces the four families held now. A new kind of world, where anything was possible.

But he would never see any of that miracle if he died. And certainly not if Sosuke Aizen won.

"Coming", he sprinted to join his captain at the door, no longer feeling Miss Rukia's weight quite so heavily. The splinter in his pocket weighed almost nothing. "I'm with you. Let's go get them... captain."

* * *

Author's Note: Musing time. Apologies for anyone who thought this story would have anything to do with the song 'Points of Authority'. I just thought it felt a fitting title for my first foray into the realm of Bleach fanfic, having only recently discovered the series. In particular hope that my OC didn't come off as a self-insert, seeing as he voices the most negative connotations of a few ideas I've had about the Soul Society (normally I hate self-inserts). The mask dividing his face in two was meant to represent his two sides, the relaxed, laid-back one and the political extremist.

As for Byakuya, I'm fully aware how much of a 'bad-ass' he is supposed to be and I may have made him talk a bit too much, but it would've been boring if his opponent didn't get at least a few good hits in. I haven't seen much canon material where they go very far into his psyche, and wanted to change that a bit. Anyway, I hope y'all like this, and I may expand further on Hanataro's vision if this gets enough feedback, maybe make a story set in the 'future Soul Society'. Of course if I've made any mistakes on how Soul Society works feel free to correct me.


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